Miles of driving lead to days of glamour

Amy Sabbatini takes a ride on a golf cart with husband Rory while he holds their 18-month-old son Harley at the Clubhouse at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra on Wednesday, March 23, 2005.

By MADELYN TROYANEK, Staff PONTE VEDRA BEACH -- Most of the time the traveling lifestyle of a professional golfer's family is hard work, but for Amy Sabbatini it's worth it to keep from being apart from her husband.

"Everyone thinks it's a glamorous life being a tour wife," she said. And, much of the time it is.

But, it also means spending hours driving on interstates and living in an RV with a toddler for weeks on end. Her husband, Rory Sabbatini, is a golfer in The Players Championship. For their family, golf is more than a sport. It is their life.

Rory Sabbatini, 28, and his wife have been together for three years and married for two. They spend between 25 and 30 weeks each year on the road living in an RV.

"He has his roles, and I have my roles," Amy Sabbatini said.

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Harley, son of Rory Sabbatini, practices driving the ball inside the clubhouse at Sawgrass on Wednesday, March 23, 2005.

By MADELYN TROYANEK, Staff

The couple has an 18-month old son, Harley, and a baby girl on the way.

In addition to being a mom and wife, she runs the business aspect of her husband's career. She responds to fan mail and keeps track of what's happening.

She said supporting her husband is a top priority in handling family affairs.

"I walk 18 holes hopefully four days a week," she said sweetly. Players who don't make the cut only play two days.

Challenging and rewarding were the two words Amy Sabbatini used to describe the family's unconventional lifestyle.

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Spectators and golfers watch and pass on the walkway behind the driving range at TPC on Wednesday, March 23, 2005.

By MADELYN TROYANEK, Staff

"You see the person you love work so hard day in and day out for a goal," Amy Sabbatini said. The joy on her husband's face when he accomplishes his goals is what she loves.

She glowed as she remembered his second career win at the FBR Capital Open in June 2003.

Recently, Amy Sabbatini began researching charities they could help. After hearing about a non-profit organization that helps families of soldiers killed in the war, the couple developed a way to promote funding for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

"My wife's family has a military background," Rory Sabbatini told media near the Island Club on the golf course.

The pants were custom tailored so Sabbatini could wear them on a golf course. By next week, they will be on display at the World Golf Village's Hall of Fame. Rory Sabbatini said he will wear a pair every Thursday that he plays.

Rory Sabbatini, of South Africa, has been a professional golfer since 1999. During the 2004 PGA Tour, he earned about $2.5 million and was ranked 16. He played 25 tournaments between January and October last year.

The Sabbatinis have a house in Dallas. Amy laughed as she referred to it as their vacation home.

"You see an airport. You see a golf course," she said with a smile. "And then you see the next one."

Their home on wheels has everything a hotel room would have, plus a washing machine.

She said she wouldn't be happy being alone in Dallas and needs to be working. Although that may change when their children are school age, she joked that the tour may have a traveling school by that time.